Tonight
by thesummerstorms
Summary: Darman and Etain have a night to themselves during a brief interlude on Coruscant. Takes place during Republic Commando: Order 66. Fluff with a touch of ironic angst. A bit on the random side. As always, DarmanxEtain.


**A/N**: Another bit of DarEtain fluff, although there's a bit of angst just near the end for anyone who's read Order 66. I just love this stuff too much.

**Disclaimer: **Did Etain survive Order 66? Then no, I don't own RepCom or anything SW related.

_**Edit: **__6/20/10 Realized I had a ton of tense errors in this, so I went through and fixed that, along with a few other small problems. If I missed any, please let me know._

**Tonight**

Darman was at peace. It was rare, but he was completely and utterly at peace. For once, there were no mongrel officers waiting to sneer at him, no locals to watch wearily on some dust-bowl Outer Rim planet, no hidden enemies waiting until he was asleep to cut off his _gett'se _and haul him in for interrogation. Not tonight.

Darman closed his eyes and took a deep breath, stretching leisurely across the double mattress as he listened for the distinct rustle of Jedi robes. It felt strange to lay on a real bed, not a barracks bunk or some hard patch off earth. The inn room was clean and comfortable and so strikingly _civilian _it was almost disconcerting.

Almost, but it couldn't pierce his contentment, his excitement. For tonight, the outside world ceased to exist, and all that mattered in the Galaxy was either in the inn room or a short shuttle ride away, tucked in the safety of an apartment above the Kragget.

When he opened his eyes again, Etain was standing at the foot of the bed, unbraiding her hair. Dar watched in content silence as she took a comb from the top of the mirrored dresser and began to work it through the mess of brown waves and tangles. Etain frowned at the mirror as she did this, but worked with out a sound. The familiar routine soothed Darman more than any words that might be spoken.

Would it be to much to ask of the Force, he wondered, to still be here in the next ten years to watch this? The next twenty?

Etain put the brush back on the grainy wood top of the dresser, began stripping away layers of dull beige and brown linen until she was left in her baggy undertunic and shorts. Then she turned and took a few steps forward, and lay down on the bed next to him, curling her body against his with a soft smile. Dar smiled back and shifted to accommodate her.

"_Et_'_ika?_"

She looked up at him again, her loosened mane now draped across his chest, threaded with reds and golds and glistening. Fierfek, she was beautiful.

"Yes?" Etain asked.

"I love you _Cyar'ika_."

The slivers of amber in her eyes glittered in the dim light of the bedside lamp. One pale hand reached up to stroke his cheek. Darman felt something stir in his chest, a warmth he couldn't identify, but enjoyed immensely.

"I love you, too, Dar."

Darman brushed his lips tenderly across the top of her head, preparing for a long overdue night with the mother of his child wrapped in his arms. In the morning they would take a shuttle to Laseema's, where the baby was spending the night with his Twi'lek aunt and his Uncle Atin. He would spend most of the day playing with his son.

But tonight it was just he and Etain. And for a while things would be as they should, or as close as these things got. As he kissed her again, Dar felt at peace. They stayed like that for a while, Etain held in his arms and no one in any rush to get to anything.

But it didn't last.

Etain's comlink began to flash its silent lighted warning and like a rush, the real world sank back in. Reluctantly, Darman let her go so that she could retrieve it and answer.

She examined the comm unit closely.

"DM. From Zey."

That brought with it a little relief. A "DM" or "dead message" was pre-recorded, so the person on the other end of the line couldn't see who they were talking to, and in this case, ask awkward questions as to why a Jedi General was in her undergarments, in an inn room with one of her clone commandos.

On the other hand, it was real life attempting to intrude on their stolen moment of peace.

Dar let out a small irritated noise, like a nek dog snorting. He resented the intrusion.

Etain examined the message closely, and the frown from the mirror was back on her face, having returned unbidden. Darman wondered whether it had hidden there waiting to ambush her again.

He tried to let the irritation drain off of him, to get back the simple tender serenity of the moment before, but it was gone. His calm was lost, and the patience he had hauled in his kit the whole war was on its way out. Etain seemed to sense this, because she glanced back at him apologetically.

His heart twinged a little at the thought she might think it was her he was impatient with.

_It isn't, _he wanted to tell her_, It isn't you. The _aruetii_ and the civvies and the war. Not you. _

But he said nothing because it wouldn't do to interrupt her in a message from her superiors and possibly cause her to miss something important.

"Orders," the Jedi said after a moment, "Zey's finally figured out he's chasing ghosts."

"Oh?" Darman frowned as well.

"Delta's been reassigned to Kashyyyk," she told him, seeming thoughtful, "He can do that, I guess, since he outranks me. And its the smart thing to do: they've been there before and the Wookiees know them. But it would have been nice to be consulted."

From a military perspective, Darman had to silently agree with Zey. Delta was the practical choice, and it saved time for Zey to lay out the battle plan rather than Etain, who had hundreds of other men to worry about, if he was in the position to do so. It was the army. You did what was practical.

But he could also hear the gears turning, could sense Etain's unspoken doubt. She was his girl, and a good officer besides. He trusted her with his life as both, and her men trusted her because she trusted – and listened to- them. She, however, had no trust in herself.

He wondered if it had been nearly been her almost realized reassignment to AgriCorps that instigated that doubt, because it seemed unique to her. Bardan was humble, but he seemed to have few doubts. Zey was mildly self-impressed, and Quinlan Vos was simply arrogant. But Etain was always self-depreciating, always seemed afraid that she would do something wrong, that someone would decide she was worthless after all.

It was a fear Darman could understand from Kamino, even though he _knew _he was the best. It would vanish by daylight from her conscious thoughts, but would live a phantom at the back of her mind until she could find a way to lay it to rest.

Knowing he could not ease it, that it was something she had to face down herself, Dar gently tried to shift her thoughts.

"And Omega?"

"I've been told to redeploy you as well," Etain said, "My decision this time, but I'm going to have to look it over. And Zey wants me to report sometime tomorrow, because he's assigning me to a mission, too."

Darman thought about it for a moment.

"Somebody's going have to go with Delta to Kashyyyk."

Etain nodded in confirmation, pulling out a datapad, removing a datachip from her comm unit and inserting it into the pad. She began to check a long deployment list, sitting on the edge of the bed, her skinny legs dangling off.

"Probably me."

Darman wished that wasn't true, that it didn't have to be Etain. He didn't want this brief interlude, this fragile peace, to end. He wanted to stay here forever, his girl by his side, his son in his arms, his brothers safe and well. It wasn't fair that it had to end.

Immediately after he thought it, he felt selfish. Most of the millions of clones that made up the GAR had nothing compared to this: no lover, no child, no time off, and no family aside from their brothers. He felt bad for wanting the easy job, or rather, the cover mission, indefinitely.

Still he refused to feel guilty for wanting more time with his son. His chest swelled to bursting point with pride every time he held Kad in his lap, saw the baby's wide eyes and wide grin, felt the chubby fingers curiously trace his face or tug at his hair.

_Kal'buir _had said Darman was like that too, at that age, but Dar doubted it. He'd remember, he thought, it if he had ever been that happy. It struck him that he wanted to be around so that he could keep Kad that way. He wanted to preserve for his _ad _what had so quickly been taken from him.

But he knew he had a job to do. The army was shrinking fast and the Jedi were scattered through out the galaxy. As he looked over Etain's shoulder at the data trickling over her datapad, this was only emphasized. The names of a few of Etain's squads flashed across the screen- Eta on Taris, attempting to track a runaway Seppie spy, Cuyan trying to protect interests on Bakura, Ion Team prepping things for a group of Jedi on Murkhana.

Soon enough, he and his brothers would leave the Republic for the haven of Mandalore, war or no war, but until then everyone was in action, no soldier to spare, and he had to do his part as well.

The line of thought was wearying, and he turned his attention back to Etain instead. She was still pouring through data, and Darman nuzzled her neck affectionately. She leaned a little closer to him, but seemed absorbed by whatever was on her screen.

"_Et'ika_," he murmured, a little teasing, a little chiding, "_N'epar nu pirur_."

The _Mando'a_ had the intended effect. Darman watched with a amused smile as her forehead crinkled up in thought. He could see her trying to puzzle out the words. Etain was learning fast, picking up the language almost faster than he could teach her.

This phrase defeated her, though, and after a moment she finally looked up at him expectantly, placing the datapad in her lap.

"The datapad won't eat anything if you leave it alone overnight, _cyar'ika_," he repeated, "It's perfectly harmless, I swear."

Etain frowned a little at him, eyebrow raised. He laughed a little, then when she crossed her arms, he tried again with a colloquialism she knew.

"It won't go anywhere. And I think it's time we both got some sleep."

Darman cupped his hand tenderly under her chin, but she looked down in distraction at the datapad in her lap. She was still frowning.

"I know Dar, it's just-" she paused for a moment, biting her lip, and looked at him again before continuing "Suddenly I'm feeling a little... uneasy."

He was brought sharply back to reality for the second time that night, and shifted a little, glancing to the door wearily. Etain, despite her distraction, caught it and shook her head.

"Nothing like that," she said very quickly, "We're still safe. It's about the missions. I'm not sure, but... all of a sudden I feel like I'm missing something. Something important."

"Like what?" Darman asked.

"I don't know. I just have this... feeling of anticipation... of dread Like something will go wrong,but I just don't know-"

He interrupted her, placing his hand over hers.

"_Et'ika_, do you feel like one of the squads is in trouble? Cuyan, Eta, Ion Team? Do you want to comm to check in?" He was calm as always, the voice of reason when she started to fret.

Etain shook her head.

"No. It's nothing that specific."

There was the sound of passing voices outside their door. "Mama!" a child's voice cried out, and a deeper, older voice started making shushing noises. After they' had passed, Darman spoke again.

"Then there might not be much you can do, short of pulling every single mission."

She didn't like that, not a bit; he could see it in her face. She'd always been the stubborn one. She picked up the datapad and began to look over it again.

"But-"

"_Cyar'ika,_" He stopped her again, grabbing her wrist gently but firmly, and taking the datapad. "Please, let's not worry. Just for tonight?"

Etain's eyes met his, and she looked at his face for a moment.

"Well... alright. I guess you're probably right anyway."

With a single last bite of the lip, she took the datapad back and turned it off. The mission details on Kashyyyk disappeared in a brief blink of light. Darman grinned broadly at her, and took her back in his arms.

"You really should get some sleep you know, _Et'ika_."

"I'm not tired."

So for the next hour or so, they joked and kissed and touched, doing everything to put off sleep, even though they both needed it. Time like this was too precious to waste. So seldom were they together, so rarely did the Force see it fit to bring them to a place where they could be together safe from enemies and safe from discovery, that no moment could be squandered.

Darman was silently committing this view of Etain to his memory. Her eyes shone bright with laughter, her and a smile stretched across her lips. Contentment seemed to light her from within. She was beautiful, she was radiant, she was perfect.

Something stirred in his chest again, then in his gut. Bending in close and tracing the curve of her jaw, he whispered something in Etain's ear with a mischievous grin. She flushed, sending his heart beating faster, and smacked his hand away half-heartedly.

With a laugh, Darman grabbed her wrist and playfully rolled so that she was pinned beneath him. He kept stroking her face with his other hand, which then moved downward until he was tracing her side, his thumb drawing circles on her belly. Rather than sighing the way he intended, however, she laughed, and he looked at her in bemusement.

"I'm ticklish," Etain explained, out-of-breath, trying to squirm out from under his grasp. Dar laughed too. His thoughts sparkled in his eyes, easy for Etain to read.

"Don't even think about-" Etain protested. Her words were cut off when he promptly disobeyed. The Council and the Kaminoans both would have had mass-heart attacks had they been watching, as the clone began to tickle his Jedi General.

"Are you alright, Jedi?" Darman asked teasingly, "Can you take it? You're getting red; is it too much?"

"Dar!" Etain was still laughing as tears began to poke at the corners of her heavy, fluttering eyelids, "Dar... that's... not... funny!"

"

I don't know. Seems pretty amusing to me, _cyar'ika_."

The sheets , which had been a mess in the first place, tangled around her legs as she tried to escape. Etain rolled onto her side as best she could, and tried to knock his hand away with hers. Darman put on a mask of frustration, but pleasure bloomed through him. Finally he gave up and rolled over, pulling her on top of him.

"Never again," she warned him once she had caught her breath. He smirked but didn't reply. The hotel room fell into a peaceful moment's silence. Dar shifted some to accommodate her weight, and let her lay her head on his chest. Her eyes closed for a moment-

And then she yawned loud enough to startle them both. His arms wrapped tighter around her as he tried not to jump at the sudden noise.

She struggled for a moment to open her eyes again. His eyes softened.

"Bedtime for _Et'ika._"

"Didn't we say that in the first place?"

But after Darman prodded her a little, Etain managed to get up. Together they straightened out the bedding, replaced the pillows, and then lay back down, turning out the lights. As soon as she was settled, Darman pulled her a little closer, wrapping her in his strong embrace. She made a small noise of approval.

He couldn't resist a few more words, though.

"Etain?"

"Yes?"

"It's gonna work out, you know that right?"

She was obviously slipping into sleep. Her only response was a faint "mhhm".

Darman pressed on anyway. Suddenly, he knew what he had to say, and he was afraid if he put it off, he'd never say it at all.

"You don't have to worry. Not at all," Darman told her quickly, hurrying to get the words out before she slipped off into dreamland, "Whatever it is you felt, it'll work out. You and me, we'll be fine. You'll come back from Kashyyyk, and the squad and I from, well wherever, and we'll leave. That'll be the end of it."

Even as Etain murmured an acquiescence, Darman knew it might not be that simple. He had been the one, after all, who had been forced to shoot the clones sent after Sull. He knew full well what the army does to deserters . But it didn't matter, couldn't matter.

"After you get back from Kashyyyk, it'll be over," Darman promised her, "After Kashyyyk, we'll be together and safe and happy. We'll be just another family, you and me and Kad. All of us together."

She didn't reply, and it gave Darman a moment to gather his thoughts, his courage. There was something more he needed to say, four short, simple, binding lines of _Mando'a_.

"Etain, can I ask you something?"

When Etain still didn't reply, he looked over to see her eyes closed, face serene. She was fast asleep, with her lips curved in the slightest smile.

He felt a little disappointed. But still, he put things in perspective. He would simply have to ask her later. The question would keep.

Burying deeper down into the pillow, and breathing in the scent of her hair, he allowed himself comfort from his own words.

"_After Kashyyyk..._" he thought, "_After Kashyyyk, we'll be happy. We'll have all the time in the world. But for now, we have tonight._"


End file.
